This legislation might be hard to swallow: Lawmakers are considering a bill that would clear the way for California communities to put highly treated wastewater directly into the drinking water supply.

“The media likes to start off with the catchy phrase toilet to tap,” said Jennifer West, managing director of Water Reuse, about the intensive purification process. “But there’s a lot that goes on between toilet and tap.”

Those criteria could incorporate a level of public health protection as good as or better than what is currently provided by conventional drinking water supplies.” — Water Resources Control Board.

Assembly Bill 574, authored by Assembly Member Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, would require the State Water Resources Control Board to develop regulations in four years for “direct potable reuse” provided research on public health issues is completed.

SACRAMENTO – Furthering the State’s continued efforts to address the effects of climate change, California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird today announced the appointment of 14 leaders in state climate science and infrastructure design to the Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group.

“I am proud to announce the appointees of the Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group,” stated Secretary Laird. “These dedicated professionals, with expertise in engineering, science, and policy will provide science-based recommendations to California decision-makers to enable the best infrastructural investment strategies for the state. As changes to the environment continue to affect the public, the establishment of this Working Group reveals California’s ongoing leadership in climate adaptation.”

California's Legislature passed a 10-year extension of the state's cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions with a robust, bipartisan two-thirds vote, a move leaders hailed as evidence that the Golden State will lead on climate change.

"Tonight, California stood tall and once again, boldly confronted the existential threat of our time," Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said in a statement after yesterday's vote. "Republicans and Democrats set aside their differences, came together and took courageous action. That's what good government looks like."

Lawmakers approved A.B. 398, which extends cap and trade through 2030, and partner measure A.B. 617, which sets up rules aimed at cutting local pollution. They also passed A.C.A. 1, a constitutional amendment. Starting in 2024, the Legislature have a say in how all program revenues are spent.

Senate Bill 649, by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and me, would establish a standardized, expedited process for statewide deployment of the equipment necessary to power 5G, the most advanced wireless technology ever to come to market.

With hundreds more electrical outages attributed to metallic balloons short-circuiting power lines in 2015 and 2016 than in previous years, Edison is mounting a campaign in large type on roadside billboards and movie theater screens, asking revelers to party carefully.

That means weighing down those metallic helium balloons you’re buying for Father’s Day on June 18, never releasing them outside and cutting them into pieces to dispose of them.

(SACRAMENTO, CA, 6/7/17) - - The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic-Relations (CAIR-CA), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today applauded the introduction of House Resolution 43 (HR 43) by Assemblymembers Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), Kansen Chu (D-Fremont) and Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), which recognizes the month of August 2017 as Muslim American Appreciation and Awareness Month.